US-20230284507-A1 - Electronic Devices Having Displays with Openings

US20230284507A1US 20230284507 A1US20230284507 A1US 20230284507A1US-20230284507-A1

Abstract

An electronic device may have a display. The display may have an active region in which display pixels are used to display images. The display may have one or more openings and may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronic device. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the openings in the display. The electronic component may include a camera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, status indicator lights, a light-based touch sensor array, a secondary display that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings, antenna structures, a speaker, a microphone, or other acoustic, electromagnetic, or light-based component. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the window region may be used in forming a heads-up display.

Inventors

RAPPOPORT BENJAMIN M
FRANKLIN JEREMY C
ROTHKOPF FLETCHER R
MYERS SCOTT A
HOWARTH RICHARD P
HOENIG JULIAN
STRINGER CHRISTOPHER
TERNUS JOHN P
LYNCH STEPHEN BRIAN

Assignees

APPLE INC

Dates

Publication Date: 20230907
Application Date: 20230509
Priority Date: 20111014

Claims (20)

1 . An electronic device, comprising: a display having a substrate and an array of pixels on the substrate, wherein the pixels include first and second pixels and wherein the substrate has a transparent region between the first and second pixels; and a light sensor configured to receive light through the transparent region.
2 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the light sensor comprises an image sensor.
3 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the light sensor comprises an infrared light sensor.
4 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the light sensor comprises a visible light sensor.
5 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the light sensor is configured to receive the light after the light reflects from a finger on the display.
6 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the pixels comprise organic light-emitting diodes and the substrate comprises a polymer substrate.
7 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the transparent region comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: glass and polymer.
8 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the substrate has an additional transparent region, the electronic device further comprising: a light source configured to emit light through the additional transparent region.
9 . The electronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the light sensor is configured to detect the light emitted by the light source after it reflects from an external object.
10 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the array of pixels forms an active area of the display and wherein the transparent region is part of an array of transparent regions in the active area of the display.
11 . An electronic device, comprising: a substrate; an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels on the substrate; and an optical sensor behind the array of pixels configured to receive light through a transparent portion of the substrate.
12 . The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the optical sensor forms a light-based finger sensor.
13 . The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the transparent portion comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: polymer and glass.
14 . The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the transparent portion is transparent to visible light and wherein the optical sensor comprises a visible image sensor.
15 . The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the organic light-emitting diode pixels include first and second organic light-emitting diode pixels and wherein the transparent portion is interposed between the first and second organic light-emitting diode pixels.
16 . An electronic device, comprising: a display having an array of pixels that form an active area, wherein the display has a transparent portion located within the active area; and a light sensor aligned with the transparent portion and configured to detect light that passes through the display.
17 . The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the transparent portion comprises transparent polymer in a polymer substrate.
18 . The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the display has an additional transparent portion, the electronic device further comprising a light source configured to emit light through the additional transparent portion.
19 . The electronic device defined in claim 18 wherein the light source and the light sensor form a finger sensor.
20 . The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the display has a substrate with first and second opposing surfaces, wherein the transparent portion is located in the substrate, and wherein the light passes from the first surface to the second surface to reach the light sensor.

Description

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/115,547, filed Dec. 8, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/745,185, filed Jan. 16, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,879,318, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/203,410, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,546,901, filed Nov. 28, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/179,713, filed Nov. 2, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,431,636, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/812,884, filed Nov. 14, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,121,831, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/402,009, filed Jan. 9, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,825,103, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/612,222, filed Feb. 2, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,543,364, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/273,851, filed Oct. 14, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,947,627, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. BACKGROUND This relates to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with displays. Cellular telephones and other portable devices often contain displays. Displays often occupy relatively large portions of an electronic device. For example, in an electronic device cellular telephone or tablet computer, a display may occupy the entire front face of the device. In many device configurations such as those in which displays occupy large portions of a device, it can be challenging to accommodate device components within the device. For example, a display may present an obstacle to the installation and operation of device components. Unless care is taken, a designer may be forced to make aesthetically unappealing design choices or may need to install device components using awkward or bulky arrangements. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved arrangements for electronic devices with displays. SUMMARY An electronic device may have a display. The display may have an active region in which display pixels are used to display images. The display may be formed from a flexible display substrate such as an organic light-emitting diode display substrate or other display layers. The display may have one or more openings. The openings may be organized in an array having rows and columns. The openings may be located in the active portion of the display. The display may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronic device. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the one or more openings in the display. Signals associated with the electronic component may pass through the openings. The signals may include acoustic signals, electromagnetic signals such as radio-frequency electromagnetic signals, and light. The electronic component may be a structure that uses light such as a camera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, a status indicator light, a light-based touch sensor array, or a secondary display that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings. The electronic component may also be a structure that uses radio-frequency signals such as an antenna. Antenna structures may, for example, include a near field antenna or other antenna structures. The electronic component may be an acoustic component such as a microphone or speaker. A microphone may receive acoustic signals through the openings. Sound from a speaker may be emitted through the openings. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the portion of the display in which the window is formed may be used in forming a heads-up display. With this type of configuration, the electronic device may display an image for the user using the display pixels in the window region while the user simultaneously views the external object through the window region. Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with a display having an opening in accordance an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having a display with an opening in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device having a display with an opening to accommodate signals associated with an internal electronic component in the device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display having an opening in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display having multiple openings with curved edges organized